How To Watch the 2018 Super Bowl Without Cable – Tips for Streaming Super Bowl LII

If you have a TV antenna, the easiest way to watch the Super Bowl is to tune into NBC at 3:30 PM ET this Sunday. However, if you’d rather see the Patriots and the Eagles duke it out online via the web or with a TV app, you have more options than ever before.

Continue on to find out how to watch the 2018 Super Bowl without cable.

Super Bowl LII: The Patriots vs. the Eagles

Kickoff time: Sunday February 4th, 3:30 PM ET.

Odds: The Patriots are 5.5-point favorites.

One unusual aspect of this year’s Super Bowl is its frosty northern setting. LII will will kick off at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It’ll be only the sixth Super Bowl held in a cold weather city.

Because Super Bowl LII will be played indoors, the weather conditions won’t play a role in the game itself. However, if The National Weather Service’s forecast turns out to be true, LII will be the coldest Super Bowl ever. Temperatures outside the stadium will likely range between -9 and 8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Who will win?

The Patriots are heavy favorites. Five out of six ESPN experts expect the Patriots to win, and Las Vegas has given the Patriots a 5.5-point advantage over the Eagles. Microsoft’s Bing Predicts — a prognostic algorithm capable of analyzing win/loss margins, individual stats, injuries and other factors — gives the Patriots a 63% chance of victory.

If the Pats do win, the franchise will have collected six Super Bowl trophies. The only other team with as many Super Bowl wins is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sunday’s matchup will mark only the second time the Patriots have gone up against the Eagles in the Super Bowl. The Patriots beat the Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX back in 2004.

Stream the Super Bowl Via the Internet

If you want to watch the Super Bowl online, here are your two best options.

Option 1: Try out a cable replacer

If you want to stream Super Bowl coverage and analysis via ESPN and other sports channels ahead of the game, you may want to check out one of the three internet-based cable replacers listed below.

All three cable replacers listed below have 7-day free trials, so you can cancel after the game if the main thing you want to do is watch the Super Bowl online.

Before you sign up…

Before you decide which cable replacer to try, you should check to see which broadcast channels you can get in your location. DirecTV Now, fuboTV and Sling TV all have websites that can give you that information. Just plug in your zip code to find out which local channels you can get before you join.

Because fuboTV has a ton of sports channels, it offers a viable way to become a cord-cutter if sports is the only thing holding you back from canceling your cable plan.

However, there is one big downside to fuboTV’s channel list: ESPN is not on the menu.

Another thing to be aware of is that fuboTV doesn’t have deals with all the NBC affiliates yet– so you’ll definitely want to check fuboTV website first to make sure you can stream NBC in your area before you sign up for the free trial.

On the plus side, fuboTV does offer an extremely generous mix of sports entertainment.

For around $45 (the exact fee depends on your location), fubo Premier gives you access to even more sports channels than DirecTV Now.

If you live in New York, fubo Premier comes with several YES (Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network) and MSG (Madison Square Garden) channels. Some other locations have special regional channels, as well.

Another advantage of fuboTV is that its recording feature is already up and running. fuboTV has a cloud DVR that lets you record 30 hours of content. Many competing services will automatically delete your recordings after a certain amount of time, but fuboTV lets you keep your recordings for as long as you like.

Out of all the cable replacement services, Sling TV has the fewest deals with NBC and other local broadcast networks. You should definitely check the Sling TV website first before you get your free trial.

If you can get a good selection of TV channels through Sling TV in your area, its not a bad deal. No other cable replacer that carries sports channels is as cheap as Sling TV.

The Sling TV plan you’ll want to check out if you want to watch Super Bowl LII is Sling Blue. Sling Blue costs $25 and has around 45 channels, including NBC and other broadcast networks.

Sling TV has a much smaller mix of sports channels compared to DirecTV and fuboTV. With Sling Blue, you get NFL Network, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 and NBC Sports Network.

You can get even more sports channels through Sling TV’s $5 Sports Extra channel add-on. The Sports Extra has ESPN Goal Line, ESPNEWS, NBA TV, BeIN Sports, NHL Network, SEC Network, ESPN Bases Loaded and a handful of others. The channels you get with the Sports Extra vary depending on which base plan you have.

Like fuboTV, Sling TV does let you record TV content. However, you have to pay $5 extra to unlock Sling TV’s DVR.

Because DirecTV Now has more channels than any other streaming service, it’s the best way to slash your cable bill without going on a “TV diet.” Other streaming services are cheaper, but their channel menus are also smaller.

DirecTV Now has signed deals with most local broadcast affiliates. Still, it’s a good idea to check the DirecTV website first to make sure you can get NBC before you get the free trial.

Another good reason to get DirecTV Now instead of one of the other cable replacers is that DirecTV Now credentials unlock live streams and full on-demand episodes on over 50 cable channel apps. The list of sports apps that work with DirecTV Now includes CBS Sports, Big 10 Network, ESPN, Fox Sports Go, The Olympic Channel, MLB At Bat, NBC Golf, NBC Sports and more.

DirecTV Now’s main downside is that its recording feature is still in beta. Unless you luck out and find a way to join the beta program, you won’t be able to buffer the Super Bowl and zoom past the commercials.

Though DirecTV Now currently lacks support for game consoles, the DirecTV Now app works with all the most popular TV devices.

Living room devices: Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and Roku.

Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: None.

Mobile devices and tablets: Android and iOS.

Game consoles: None.

Desktop browsers: Chrome and Safari.

Like most cable replacers, DirecTV Now lets you try out their service free for 7 days.

Option 2: Use NBC’s website or the NBC Sports app

If you don’t intend to become a cord-cutter and all you want to do is watch the Super Bowl, it makes more sense to just stream the big game directly from NBC.

The main downside of using the NBC app or website to watch the Super Bowl is that there’s no way to avoid all the commercials. fuboTV and Sling TV both have cloud DVRs that allow you to buffer the game after it begins so that you can fast forward through all the advertisements.

On the other hand, both the website and the NBC Sports app are totally free, no strings attached. Ordinarily, NBC requires you to authenticate through a paid TV service to watch NBC on the internet. But next Sunday, NBC will lift those restrictions for 11 hours and let the general public access NBC’s online feed.

NBC’s website

You don’t have to sign up for anything or create an account if all you want to do is watch the Super Bowl live through NBC’s website.

The NBC Sports App

The NBC Sports app has earned a 3/5 rating on Android and has a 2/5 rating on iTunes. Most of the complaints about the NBC Sports app center around commercials. Commercials that appear during video playback often feature the same ad over and over again.

Or, Just Use Your TV Antenna to Watch the Big Game

If you live within range of an NBC broadcast station, the easiest way to watch the Super Bowl is with an ordinary TV antenna.

AmazonBasics and Mohu are the two leading TV antenna brands among cord-cutters.

Enhance your experience with cutting-edge TV gadgets

Both TV gadgets listed below let you record TV content from any locally broadcast TV station.

HDHomeRun devices are inexpensive (the cheapest model is $80) and easy to use. Setup is uncomplicated and quick. All you have to do is plug your HDHomeRun into your WiFi router and then attach it to a TV antenna. From there, you can access any of your locally broadcast channels from any HDHomeRun app.

Like HDHomeRun, Tablo devices can also record live TV broadcasts. Because Tablos are more expensive than HDHomeRuns, most cord-cutters prefer HDHomeRun. On the other hand, Tablos do have more advanced DVR features.

In a Nutshell

The best way to watch Super Bowl LII for free

If you have a TV antenna and live near an NBC TV station, just tune in at 3:30 PM ET this Sunday. Otherwise, you can watch the game online via the NBC Sports website or through the NBC Sports app.

If you’re a cord-cutter in-the-making

If you plan on cutting the cord anytime soon, the Super Bowl is a good excuse to see what DirecTV Now brings to the table. With 120+ channels, DirecTV Now has the biggest menu and the most generous subscription packages.

For sports nuts

If all you want is sports, you may want to check out fuboTV. fuboTV has more sports channels than DirecTV and Sling TV. On the other hand, fuboTV is somewhat crippled by the fact that ESPN is not on the menu.

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